Faced with the problem of illustrating a dry concept (Internet Service Protocol Quality of Service), art director Scott Holl hit upon the idea of showing the various applicable acronyms as the 'alphabet soup' they really are. Adding a customer 'hunger' for QOS completed the metaphor.
The cover shot shown here is a combination of several elements. First, the soup was photographed in the prop bowl without any letters, letting only the vegetables show through the broth. This image would provide the background for the next shot, in which the various acronymns were spelled out in noodle letters on a sheet of glass suspended about one millimeter below the surface of diluted broth. The letters were photographed from the same perspective and with the same lighting as the soup.
Once the point of view and perspective were established by the soup shot, the model (Maureen Murphy of Suzanne's A+ Talent) provided the smile and the human focus for the cover. She patiently held the bowl of now-cold stand-in soup locked into place, pretending to savor a heavenly aroma. These and other shots rounded out the shoot, and the finished films were sent to Scott for editing.
It was in the final assembly phase that all the careful work paid off. The letters were resized according to their importance and the soup surface completed, creating the illusion that the letters were floating over the vegetables. This soup surface was laid into the prop bowl with Maureen and wisps of steam added as a final touch. The job was delivered on disk, with all layers intact for accomodating type.
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